Over-excited days and Sleepless nights

It's finally, officially, end of classes here at NID for us 7th Semester students, now DNA (Diploma and Alumni) kiddos! All juries were wrapped up yesterday, with some interesting and some highly unappreciated panel members. Nevertheless, done and over with! And, as for me, there was always much more to look forward to. So, there's bhaiya's wedding coming up next month, and I can't wait to get back home for that. But before that, there are more postcards!

Now that's where the problem lies. I've been up for over two hours now, with no explanation at all. And I want and need sleep! But such things never let me in peace. From the Maths exam in school, to debates, to an interesting project round the corner, first it hits the head, renders me sleepless, and then enters the growling tummy!!

So, after two hours of failed attempts at sleeping, here I am, browsing through random facebook profiles, checking my mail, hoping someone is as inflicted as I am, and now going to assist Shalaka with her baggage as she leaves early this morning for home. May be a bicycle ride after that?

Once in a while, I feel like thanking BlogSpot for helping in such times of need. Who else would listen at this unearthly hour!

The day after

The day following World Post Day, I made a trip to the GPO with Shilpa, and happened to run into the philatelist , Mr. Mainak,who bought over two dozen postcards from me the other day, to get them specially stamped from the GPO. A postcard saying "Celebrating World Post Day 2013" stamped on 09/10/2013 must mean a lot more to a philatelist that it would ever mean to me! I would probably just post it to someone like any other card!

Anyhow, he gave me a copy of this e-post that they circulated in the postal department and among their philately association, which said, "India Post wishes greetings on World Post Day, 9th October 2013. A display of post cards has been arranged by the students of NID Ahmedabad to promote letter writing and supporting philately as a hobby. One can buy a postcard for Rs 30/-, but if you write there and post it, it will cost only Rs 20/- inclusive of the postage charge. A novel way to enhance this hobby."

Interesting concept of e-post, that I had never heard of before. To reach the smaller areas, they mail the messages for the people there (probably to one common host in the area) and it is then printed out and distributed to the respective persons. Perfect combination and use of the internet and post I thought.

Thanks to Mr. Mainak, even I ended up getting a bunch of my postcards beautifully stamped at the GPO.

And then there was also a little newspaper coverage in Ahmedabad Mirror! :D

http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/3/2013101020131010021641500de5a1e1c/These-stamps-are-not-for-collection.html

And for a little indulgence in postcard writing myself

So finally, after a long, long, amazing day, having made so many people write postcards, at half past seven in the evening, I went to Subway for my first meal of the day. And then to do the day justice, sat there for 3 hours and wrote thirteen postcards 

Oh, what joy!

And what could possibly make the day better?

Hearing the sound of the thirteen post cards drop in the NID postbox and realizing it's not empty like always.

A Happy World Post Day it was!

So here's how the set up looked finally: (With a lot of help from Manpreet and Nehmat :D )

The drill:

For newbies

Map to the closest postbox, courtesy Vinnie. Thanks to this, a lot of people realized how close and how simple it all was. :)

Turned out to be a pretty efficient display for the little space and the many postcards that there were !

The rather popular Bollywood series!

Among the toughest of choices life has to offer.. Which postcard must I send?

So, the question was how to make the procrastinators and the non-writers write a post card and send it.

With badey bhaai saheb's help, I finally came up with a strategy efficient enough to help me sell off all my postcards and have half or almost three quarters of them written.

So the deal was that the postcard and the stamp together cost you only 20 rupees, but while buying it, you pay me 30 per card and only when you come back with a written card do I give you a free stamp and your 10 rupees back! Worked amazingly well!! And for all those who ran off with the postcard after paying 30, well, I made a little profit on those! So, either the objective or the profit ;)

And then they were back to pick from some amazingly beautiful stamps

So many postcards, so many happy people and so much love! :D

The preparation

The day before began with some posters, superimposed in the iconic postcard template.

And then how I caught hold of everyone in the studio to do their bit for my venture!

Followed by a couple of hours in the workshop to build some efficient postcard stands. The question was how to display 148 different designs of cards along with their copies without creating uncontrollable crowd chaos! A simple thermocol solution. :)

And then to bring some colour into it..

Along with some other guidelines for the newcomers!

With the help of dear roomies.. Camera shy volunteers that they are!

Look at that pile!

Monday morning: Operation Cut the damn thing!

The official sorters!

Waited all morning, and then a little while,
But all so worth it; see the height of that pile!

That's how tall it is! :D

Hot out of the printer!



Hot prints for many a letter,

Sunday Morning, can it get any better?

 

 



I know you already love it, but,
Trust me, they'll be better when cut!

 



Tomorrow morning: Cutting lab.

Post cards and Postcards, on World Post Day

So, coming Wednesday is World Post day (9th of October), and with all the joy that the postal system has given me, I thought the least I can do is to burden it with a few hundred more letters! So, for starters, I've got some 6-700 creative, sensitive, crazy people at my disposal at NID. But how do I get them to write? To post?

3 weeks back I printed a bunch of postcards and gifted a few to some friends. Among them, Krishna was very enthusiastic and quickly got her sisters' addresses to write to them. Two postcards. Then she made a few queries regarding where one needs to go to post, where one can get stamps and so on. I clarified those. She needed six stamps to post two postcards abroad. I knew going all the way to Relief Road to the GPO to get nice stamps was out of the question, so we struck a deal; I'd give her four stamps out of my collection in exchange for a really nice purple pen she had (come on, don't judge me! It writes really well on postcards!!). Two stamps still remained. (Mind you, I only gave her four hoping she'd make a trip to the post office, less than a kilometre away from college, to get the other two) She asked the others if anyone would give her company till there, and then the chapter temporarily shut.

Three days back, I had some work and had to go to Ellis Bridge Post Office next to college. So I asked her before going and, since it wasn't too much trouble, I picked up stamps for her.

And then remained the last bit; of posting the card. 40? Or is it 45? That's how many steps it takes to go to the post box from the college gate. So I presumed that won't be difficult. But the next thing I know, I was going to go across the road to grab a bite and Krishna says, "Can you please drop this by the post box?"

In the end, I provided the card, bought the stamp AND posted it! (And felt stupid, not to forget!!)

So I figured there needs to be a greater motivation for people to make an effort. And what might that be?

Okay... It's not a fool proof plan, but here's how it goes.

I've managed to collect some of the most amazing art pieces, illustrations and photographs from some of the most talented people sitting here at NID. Along with that I added a trip to the GPO to get a whole bunch of pretty stamps (And by a whole bunch I mean just a little over 700!).

So the deal is that while these amazing, irresistible post cards lie before you, you cannot just buy them for keeping; the deal is to buy a crazy post card with a beautiful stamp and promise to write it to someone (I know, I know, sounds cheeky when I use that word!).


Either way, the question is, can I make a bunch of NIDians walk across the road to the post box? Three days to find out!


For all you guys reading, get your addresses together, because I'm gonna do everything to make sure you don't get that card unless you're writing to someone!!


And just as we part, don't be heart broken. Remember, stamps are meant to be stamped and postcards are meant to be posted. If you fall in love with either, click a photo and get over it! But do send it across and make someone smile. Trust me, it's gonna be one amazing smile!